From Singh is King to him being Bling

Today was the first day when I realised what an awesome song Tung Tung Baje from Singh is Bling is. It was the first thing which I heard on radio while getting ready for the office today, and it did stick with me for the entire day; in a good way way, of course. I researched a bit, and got to know that it did feature in Coke Studio 2012 edition. The song didn’t seem like an Akshay Kumar’s movie song anyway.

After work, when I thought about it in my apartment, I realised that Singh is King came in 2008. Exactly 7 years and a month ago.

The reason why I remember Sing is King so distinctly is because of the first lecture of a particular course in IIT Delhi. The professor was a surd. Now I won’t name our respected professor because he was the one who got all my CV points approved in my management school. I’d be eternally grateful to him for that. But for the sake of reference, let us call him Mayyar Singh (If any IITD batchmate is reading this, they’ll know why chose this particular reference name).

As is evident so far, Prof. Mayyar was a surd. Lest you shun this, let me tell you that no stereotypical joke is coming your way. I am just not like that, not anymore. Anyway, so it was his first class of advanced machine design course (No, it isn’t a cliched engineering school joke too). Out of courtesy, and trying to be highly pertinent to the course, the professor asked the class that what were their expectations from this course – as is the norm in any college. The first thing which the class uttered was – “Sir, ‘Singh is King’ ke tickets ka jugaad kara do, mil nhin rahe hai”. The professor immediately regretted asking this question, and conveniently ignored, moving on to other mundane things.

It might not sound very funny now, but it is one of the most funny stories which I can recall from my engineering days.

Just to put things in perspective, it was the time when Virendar Sehwag scored 201 not out, in this test. It’s his third best innings (not in terms of runs scored, obviously) after this and this. The one at Mumbai is best batting I’ve seen so far. If you don’t believe me, read this. Having followed cricket since 1996 and wishing the best things for Kumble and Tendulkar, I never thought I’d miss Sehwag the most. But I do miss him in Indian cricket the most. More than Dravid and Kumble. Dravid saved the tests, Kumble won it for us, but it was always who sat up the platform for the win. When Sehwag failed, Dravid’s task was infinitely harder. And Kumble had no role to play.

It was also the time when The Dark Knight was released. On 18th of July, 2008. But I chose to see Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na with a friend who is married now and is working with Asian Paints. (I’ll not name anyone.) But when I did see The Dark Knight on 31st of July (I remember the date precisely because it was right before my birthday) with my would-be girlfriend (who is now a bitter ex), her then boyfriend (I never did care for him anyway) and another male friend with whom I haven’t spoken in last six years (I stopped caring for him a long time ago). It was a wonderful day at PVR Saket. I saw The Dark Knight twice after that. Each time with three different people at three different locations. It was also the time when DevD’s shooting was going on Delhi, and I happened to have a crush on choreogrpaher of the movie, who happened to be a friend of mine, and with whom I saw The Dark Knight for the final time in theater and afterwards I confessed having crush on her in United Coffee House at CP. I was wearing a very stupid kurta and she wore red sleeveless chicken kurta. She looked cute, and I was a little embarrased after telling her this. Her reply was nonchalant and stereotypical. “Girls always know such stuff.” She was living with her boyfriend in Mumbai then, and working on DevD.

I also distinctly remember one of my hostel mates playing ‘Uccha lamba kad’ from Welcome around the same time on endless loops in blaring volumes. I guess he had just bought new 2.1s.

And now there is Singh is Bling.

How time flies.

Write Drunk, Edit Sober – Peter De Vries

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बारूद की महक को कब हाथोँ से जाने में वक़्त लगा है,
वक़्त तो उनके दिये ज़ख्मों को भरने में लगा है।

तुम मानते नहीं हो, शायद मानोगे भी नहीं
समझते तो हो ,लेकिन समझना चाहते नहीं हो

अब और कैसे कहें,
कि दर्द -ऐ -हिज्र क्या है।

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White Cotton Tee

It was an after rain morning in August, the sort which gets misty as the day progresses. And by late afternoon, you’re in a fix if it’s a late august in northern plains of India or early winters.

She was wearing a plain cotton tee.

When she stepped out from her home, it was pretty humid. An old worn out cotton tee is your best bet in Delhi on such a day. Little did she know that she’d be protesting at India gate later in the morning. And by the time she was there, it was already drizzling. Delhi had witnesses another rape in a moving vehicle, and it was barely eight months after what happened on the night of December 16^th, 2012.

She was a strong, independent woman. The sort usually found at northern campus of Delhi University. Probably, because she believed in Neitzsche and Camus. And a little bit in Beckett, which made her quite callous, socially.

But she had her friends. And cats. She didn’t need much.

But on that late rainy misty morning, she was wearing a worn out cotton tee, with a white brasserie. Little did she know that that would be a curse.

It rained heavily that day, and the media was more interested in her worn out cotton tee instead of what she was saying. She noticed it, noticed it more than obviously, and yet she was helpless. This wasn’t Gurgaon. It was India gate. The national media was there. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Fucking shit!

It was only her first monsoon in Delhi, but she knew very well why she wouldn’t want to be there in the next.

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Cheatings & Teachings

It wasn’t long before she started taking her clothes off. What started as an innocuous study session had turned into a steamy tale of infidelity.

Intermittently, the words such as “cheating”, “disloyalty” did pop up in her mind, but the pain between her legs was too sweet and strong to let her think of such things more holistically.

The fact that she realized it very early that she couldn’t stop what was happening to her –more aptly, she didn’t want to – wasn’t helping either.

So she gave in.

But she couldn’t give in absolutely. Committing to the moment completely wasn’t achievable for her. So she thought of analyzing it. Why, after all, was she doing it?

He was not handsome. Nor was he mentally, or physically, well endowed. And although, she has been toying with the idea of sapiosexuality, she wasn’t entirely convinced of it either.

Then why, oh why was she doing it to her macho husband?

May be, that was why!

He was too macho for her. And she had always wanted someone docile and malleable. Someone ‘soft, someone who will be dependent on her. How she loathed the idea of patriarchy and machoism.

She was the sort of strong, independent women by whom the media swore. But her husband had always challenged her character – emotionally and mentally. Shameless, typical patriarch!

Oh Yes!

Silence. Only hard breathings.

Click of the lighter and exhausted ring of smoke.

“Shall we start all over again?”

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The Problem is Sex

The problem is/was/will be that women can get sex any time they want to, and with whoever they want to. Well, mostly. This is simply unacceptable to a society where the man is seen as the lord of everything. Which is why they need to have so many rules for women. Which is why you have to tie her modesty irredeemably with her sexuality. Which is why a family’s “honour” is so unscrupulously intermingled with only women. Which is why Rape is not as heinous a crime as murder. Which is why her character is termed “loose” if she is sexually proactive. Which is why the legal definition of rape is only vaginal penetration by phallus. Which is why Sodomy is not even a thoroughly recognized sexual offence.

And which is why the authorities believe that fellatio can’t forced. Groping and pinching in crowd can’t be avoided. Because, when you’re in a mob, your hands develop a carnal instinct of their own.

Manu knew it all along. He sure was a visionary.

And so was Nietzsche when he believed that morality is just a fiction used by the herd of inferior human beings to hold back the few superior human beings.

A task excellently done!

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Deconstructing Delhi Rapes

16th December is a very important date, for a gamut of reasons. And – I hope – from now on, it must be a shamefully important date in recent history of Delhi, at least. It was December the 16th, in the cruel year of 2012, that a girl was raped in a moving public transport in the early hours of late night. And she was, wisely, with a male friend. I mean, how much more circumspective can it be?

Up until very recently, all my female friends thought south Delhi to be the safest part of Delhi, generally. Suffice to say is that the myth has been broken. A carefully cultivated myth it was, nonetheless, by the PCR vans patrolling (by patrolling I mean parked on the red lights of flyovers, over which such things were happening) on the inner and outer ring roads. And a couple of days ago, on Arnab Gowsami’s show, Additional Commissioner of Delhi Police, Lt. Gen. Tajinder Luthra, kept insisting on the fact that in 2005 there were 100 PCR vans, the number stands at over 600 presently, and they’re in the process of taking it up to 1000 and more. Mathematically, the PCR vans have grown up by over 600 percent since 2005. The crime rates should have been reduced proportionately, presuming there is some feeble correlation between the former and the latter. However, not so surprisingly, the growth in crime rate has outpaced the growth of PCR vans! How does one go about in explaining this baffling anomaly? Oh, I know! If you use the words “useless” along with “absolutely”, things start falling into place. This line of argument is entrenched infallibly by Delhi polices’ conduct in general. And let’s not even talk about their mentality and upbringing or societal background. So, in short, it’s time that we stop pretending that we believe in the charade of Delhi Police. We’ve always wanted to, though; told ourselves as well as our near and dear ones repeatedly the same lies, hoping that they might eventually turn out to be true. But mother of all ironies! It hasn’t, so far. And considering the ongoing travesties of law and order, it’ll be hopeless naivety to believe that it will, in some point of time which any of us might be able to see.

We’ve been following their recommendations almost religiously. More, out of the fear of our own safety than the respect for authorities, however. When will we realize that it has never been about the time, place, company or what was she wearing. The reason why we have had no substantial answers so far is because we’ve been asking the wrong questions. The questions should have been directed towards him, and not her. But someone, at some point in time messed it up royally then; and repercussions have been ripe ever since. Many of us must have seen the movie Daamini (this is just one name which pops up in my head right now, there must a score of other such movies) where the female protagonist is subjected to despicably vulgar cross questioning by a very-well-acting Amrish Puri. But nobody thought of cross questioning the accused. How drunk was he? Were his parents or guardians informed of his late night shenanigans? What do his mother, sister and other of his close female relatives have to say about the allegation? And if he was such a macho man, why didn’t he attempt the rape all alone. You see, rape is not about masculinity. It’s about mob mentality. The same mob which nearly raped the girl outside the bar in Assam, but for the presence of camera and other media personnel.

I believe that rapes in Delhi are exponential functions of untapped sexual energy and unsatisfied lust. And the violence is sadomasochistic, which is a corollary of lust. And such things have no distinction of economic class. This is the reason why there are almost no reported crimes of burglary and mobbing of citizens in dark alleys. How many Delhites are actually worried about such things as- a couple of thousands of cash, credit cards, smart phones, watches and jewellery while they are out late in the night? No one is bothered about such things in Delhi anymore, because Delhi has upgraded to a higher class of criminals. All we are worried for is the security of our female friends when we are out. This is so not the case when we are hanging out with all guy friends. There is almost no worry involved then. Why should there be such a difference? Be it 3 AM in the night, while you’re smoking up along with whiskey out on the ring road. Or drinking in your Car. It’s all good. Just don’t get females out. Because then, you’ll be beaten up. Because we’re going to molest them any which way. I think I speak for all the rational males when I say that we can’t be involved in a brawl if there are any number of horny guys with iron rods and guns. We do realize that we’re not living in an out and out commercial movie. In fact, we, as a single entity are utterly helpless and completely benign. That is why, there are only gang rapes in Delhi. The bachelors live in houses or PGs where women are not allowed. Which explains the fetish with moving vehicles. Actually, the fetish is more of a constraint, but we have learned to enjoy it. And the alcohol. Delhi government has made sure that you will have a continual supply of liquor, irrespective of the economic strata of the society to which you belong to and irrespective of whatever time of the night it is. The Delhi police sure do collude in this. You see, the government is working. Not working in the right direction, but never mind that. Work is all that matters. Hence, Gang rapists under heavy influence of alcohol.

The solution is not death penalty or castration. There is a stark distinction between us and them, and it must be kept in place very firmly. Because what will violence begetting another form violence will teach our future generations? And making the litigation swift will be a short term solution; not that it is not needed. The long term solution is changing what our society believes in, their mentality and their mind set. But that will take at least a generation or two. Apparently, we can’t wait for that long. What can be immediately done is that we flood the streets of Delhi with women all night. We stop telling them by when they should be at home. We stop telling them what they must and must not wear. We start accepting the fact that they might smoke and drink with you, but surprisingly, won’t sleep with you. It should be a normal sight to see a woman alone at 3 AM in the night. Then fascination with the women will be a little subdued then. What really needs to be done is that make it totally normal for women to step out at any time of day, in whatever she feels is comfortable, with whoever she wants to, and whatever she wants to.

Delhi police and youth are surely not taught any of this in their trainings and schools and colleges. But the institutions do teach them about egalitarian society, the fundamental rights; including the right to live with dignity. Don’t they have this much of brain to see that this is exactly what it is, and nothing more. There is no regressive mindset at play here. It’s plain simple matter of convenience. Tomorrow, if a woman sees a man reliving himself shamelessly in front of her, and if she kicks it really hard, will the police say that he was asking for it? The day our authorities answer that in affirmative, is the day we should be striving towards.

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The Other Side of Violence

Why are men violent? I mean, domestically.

And why so, with their wives and not (mostly) with their girlfriends? It’s because they’re afraid. Emotionally weak and vulnerable. More than the aggression, it’s their defense. Something like you’d do instinctively upon seeing a potentially poisonous snake.
With that, we arrive on a more important question: Is that justified?

Ofcourse, like truth, justifications are subjective. No matter how much we try to put in objectivity in any of the men-women relationship, the bitter fact is that, we simply can’t. Somethings are not meant for that. And that is what -I think- makes them more complex than they already are.
But: there are two things in which I firmly believe in. One, everyone must have their own point of view on this. Two, none can’t live with them and without them. Black & White. Yin & Yang. Batman & Joker. Nature, most certainly, is a sadist.

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The Death of Hope

To born again, first you have to die. So says Rushdie Sir.

Is this my death we’re talking about? Am I supposed to be born again?

A joker might abhor me, but me too do not like things when they doesn’t go according to “the plan”. Because that means that then I’ll have to come up with a new plan. And that requires a lot of meticulous work on my part. But -like every other living thing, and me being no different- don’t want to do that.

We live in difficult times.

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When the Electricity Played Spoilsport.

It’s been more than an year. 366 days, to be very precise, ever since I’ve not written. Well, ever since I’ve not written here. Otherwise, I’ve written a lot. A lot of it in the office, with a real pen and paper, during the long -and insanely sleepy- afternoons of the unbearable summer which seemed to last forever.

I’m kind running against time, and this was so not planned. I’ve a train to catch in about two hours from now, and right now, it is terribly cold. Just the way I like it. While we are on that, the electricity is not here anymore. So I will have to stop right here. But this is not over. Not so soon.

See you all soon, really!

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Back from the Dead

It feels a bit awkward to pay for net. Kinda like how you feel when you’re asked to pay for water [mineral or whatever] at a restaurant. No? Well, ever since I’ve known internet, I’ve known it to be free. Something like accommodation, up untill you’re living with your parents that is. Then you step out in real world. And wham! Which, by the way, partly explains why it took me almost 5 months to get it. The other reason is much simpler: I never really felt the need of it.

Imagine an overfed child, suddenly being forced to not to eat. Or an excessively social person put to extreme solitary confinement. Or lovers, separated overnight. Too many analogies! Or may be, it’s over-accumulated urge to blab here; after all, it’s been 13 months.

Thirteen months is a long, really long frame of time. Picture yourself 13 months ago, and you’ll know. So many changes – I know! Some for good, others for bad; but you’ve to accept them, nonetheless. Calvin says it the best, “Little by little, nothing seems to change, but nothing remains the same with time.” More precisely, “Nothing lasts forever, even cold november rain”, as Axl Rose puts it.

****

Wiki Leaks and Radiia Tapes have uncanny similarity. Particularly, in the modus operandi of the respective authorities in trying to curb them. Whatever may be the final outcome of these overwhelming phenomenons, one thing is for sure, I’ll never read an article or believe in any news piece as before. There is no going back. They’ve changed things. Forever.

****

Delhi is in desperate need of its own Dark Knight, so that all the women may wander at night without any concerns. Expecting Delhi’s men to change is futile. And too far fetched. Just like expecting Vivek Oberoi to deliver a solo hit.

****

All I want right now is India to win this test against South Africa. Which again seems too far fetched. Lets just pray before we sleep. Or after we wake up.

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All Will [be] Well

The way I see it, life is never as fair and just as much I fancied it to be.  As the college nears its inevitable end, I can’t help but realize that those were -effectively- the best days of my life, and the road ahead is so not smooth. Considering the fact that I’m such a complicatedly manufactured specimen of human race, the predicament seems a million times worse than it actually was/is/will ever be. The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars But in ourselves, that we are underlings. May be. May not be. It was supposed to happen like this, I know. But then, why does it hurt so much? That I’ll never know.

I always believed that life is a very continuous series of crests and troughs, arranged in a very neat fashion. Like a simple sine wave. But I really can’t recall even one single moment when I felt genuinely happy ever since I’ve been in college. The occasional once which came had their little baggage. But I never really cribbed about them. I kept consoling myself that there must be a better plan for me by Him. I hope there is. I seriously hope there is.

Novembers used to be the best year of the month for me. I used to look forward for them every time when Decembers came. For twenty two years, they just kept on getting better and better. Then came the twenty-third, and November is no longer the most cherished month of the year! Thinking about the last November, I also realize life changes so much in just a span of twelve months. Like right now, I’ve no idea where I’ll be in the next November. More importantly, how I’ll be.

I’ve almost stopped listening to music these days. More or Less. But there is this one song from 3 Idiots– All izz well. The song is not great or something per se, but there are these lines from the song which made immense amount of sense to me. Henceforth, they’ll be my facebook status for a long time to come.

Scholarship की पी गया दारु, गम तो फिर भी मिटा नहीं,

अगरबत्तियां राख हो गयी, God तो फिर भी दिखा नहीं.

I don’t know. Prasoon Joshi, is it? Too lazy to do a Google search.

*****

I’ve a feeling, that my Godot will come. And I’ll prove Becket wrong, individually. But then, the feelings, the aspiration, who the hell cares about them anyway? Isn’t the world much simpler, absolutely non-layered, right? If Only.

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I Never got Past ‘The Past’

I happened to visit the place where I lived from 1989 to 1995. It was a chance encounter, the visit I mean. I didn’t plan it. I was passing by that lane, and almost impulsively, I took a left turn instead of going straight.

I don’t know about other people, but I can recall my childhood pretty vividly. The labyrinthine lanes seemed so pregnant with past. So much so that it almost gave me goose bumps and involuntarily, I started returning. I had to coerce myself not to. The lanes had a proper road with tar and all [as opposed to the bricks which they used to have previously]. They were so not the same as they used to be, and yet I had a striking familiarity with them. It also reminded me of all of the childhood friends which I had. I lost touch with them as soon as I left that place, and I’ve no idea of even their physical appearance now. I don’t think I’d be able to recognize them with their face anymore. Just a moment, I think I should name them all here. Who knows one of them might see this and get in touch. The names are [as much chronological as possible]- Mohit, Golu, Ekta, Ashu, Nishu, Chhotu, Betu, Prateek, Little, Mini, Garima. This is pretty much it. I really don’t know their proper names, so pardon me for that. The dusty ‘park’ where we used to ‘play’ now has a 4 storey house.

Then I saw the home where I used to live when I didn’t go to school. Astonishingly, it was still the very same! Superficially, nothing had changed there. That was some sight. Plastic Ball Cricket, the first day at school, my thumb nail getting squished, getting drenched in rain, bathing in sun light during winters, the doordarshan, death of Rajiv Gandhi.. these are some of the things which I remember with utmost clarity. My reading habit started from the newspaper report of assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. It was such sensational news of its time that I thought, damn.. only if I could read and understand everything written on that boring and awkwardly ‘huge’ newspaper. [No, the newspapers didn’t use to be any bigger than they’re now, but I was too small for them :P].

Our landlord, Gupta ji [who was almost a grandfather figure to me] is no more. The name plate was engraved with the dreaded letters LATE. I think I felt a lump in throat for no good reason.

I never knew I’d be so connected with my past, but as it turns out.. Apparently, I am. And much later, I realized that this what I’ve been wanting to do for quite sometime now. Sometimes, living in past is not such a bad idea at all.

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Smoking Works!

If you’re going to be insanely rational, please don’t read this further.

A little while ago [well, I don’t exactly remember how while ago], I used to get spams which roughly had something like this in their subject – Older women looking for Younger men. You know, ceremoniously ordinary event in life of an average netizen. What I saw today in my spam was the exact opposite of what it used to be. [!] And then, it struck me.. I’ve grown. If not in anything else, then definitely numerically. Which, isn’t too comforting a thought. 😦

***

I didn’t had 150 bucks in change the other night to pay for auto. I had a 500 rupee note, a 100 rupee note, 3 10s and a 5. And some cigarettes. I gave the autowaala 135 in cash, and 3 Marlboros. He was glad and satisfied beyond explanation. Smoking Works! 😉

***

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Tweet Tweet!

Breaking News- Twitter is killing Blogs! Is anyone listening?

That is the reason why this -and I’m sure, many other- blogs are well on the way to oblivion. Blogging is like a test match. You need insane patience, you never know how long it would be and most importantly, whether it is worth the efforts putting in. Twittering, is more like the T20 game. Latest, Innovative, Improvized and Miniaturized version of an previously popular game.. which is set to take over it’s predecessor. I didn’t find Twitter much appealing initially, but lately I’m finding myself significantly hooked to it. The story of my life. Like today, I had this sudden and almost indomitable urge to tweet about my feat in achieving 0.00 balance in my phone. Sad. Lame. Sadly Lame. Lamely Sad. Go ahead, I won’t stop you from judging me. I surely don’t have any discretion after saying that publicly.

***

Facebook is the new Orkut. I’ve been considerng to change my home page pretty soon to Facebook. My orkut is dead. Or would be, in a month or so, if the things didn’t change drastically; and I see no possibility of that in near future. So.. Dead! This phenomenon of social networking sites, some people will never understand. And by “some”, I mean people in their thirties, mid-thirties. It’s one of those idiosyncracies which our generation will boast of in future. You know son, I met your Mom on Facebook; which is really a remarkable and unique paradigm of interfacing, because facebook never supported strangers interacting; unlike Orkut in it’s infancy. Fancy that!

****

The oscars are out. Slumdog Millionaire is clear cut winner of the tournament this year. It’s a good movie. One or Two oscars would have been more than sufficient to honour it. But Eight! And just Two to The Dark Knight? For me, this marks the beginning of total disbelief in Oscars henceforth. Most certainly, bollywood has churned out some better movies than this one. I’m not saying it’s a bad movie. Just that, we’ve made better, which deserved to be acknowledged; but were not. It kinda feels like some charity-cum-conspiracy to placate. Just because the movie is based on India, lets give it oscars. Coz China and India are the forces to reckon with currently.

For the ‘best movie’ category, I think The curious case of Benjamin Button was miles ahead of it, notwithstanding TDK. Oh, and by the way, TDK wasn’t even nominated in that category! Here is an interesting fact- All the 5 movies nominated in that category did a combined business of $270 million [approx]. The Dark Knight, on the other hand, is only the fourth movie in the history to cross $1 billion mark.

I finished Watchmen. Perhaps for the first time, I didn’t find something [especially in this genre] as much appealing as I had expected. I guess Alan Moore messed up the ending. It was good while commencing. It became better in the middle. And just when my hopes were raising, it crashed them down flatly.

There are bad vivas. There are worst vivas. Mine was embarrassing today.

*****

Education is an admirable thing. But it is well to be remembered from time to time that nothing worth knowing can ever be taught.                                                                                                                                                                                ~ Oscar Wilde.

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The Sins That People Do

Pride. Envy.

I don’t know about the people people, but I do happen to know me. And these are my sins. Notwithstanding the romances of my future, I can almost vouch for my repentance in past.

The problem with these sins are that they are not outrageously apparent to naked eye. Unlike Gluttony or Sloth or even Greed, for that matter. Neither they are satiable. A glutton can eat, slother can sleep.. But what possibly could an envy-er do? Not be jealous? Well, dear reader, had it been so simple, there wouldn’t have been an Othello! And this post too..

I think I also cited Pride. To be truly true, it just makes up for 20 %; in my case, that is. And you thought devil’s favourite sin was Vanity? It should be Envy. There is nothing more haunting than Envy. To make it worse, it’s insatiable; inconsolable. Retribution-cum-Deprivation being the only salvation of this abjectly lost cause.

***

This city is afraid of me. I’ve seen it’s true face.

–Rorschach, Watchmen.

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Random Lamentations

V-Days have never been good for me. Notwithstanding the fact that I’ve perpetually being without a valentine on every valentine’s day, rather, there is more to it than just mere and supremely overwhelming phenomenon of being single. Let us just not open that door yet.

Somehow.. Anyhow.. Everyhow.. I end up messing it up on this very particular day. Each time, any time, every time! Ironical? It’s such a meager word to use. Had that been the worst part, I would have been far more content right then. But as they say, things are never so bad that they can’t get worse.. Which explains my circumstances and me, wholesomely and most pertinently. Things just keep on getting worse and worse and then some more worse. Ad Infinitum! It feels sick deeper within, when it’s entirely not your fault. Just how “bad” someone’s luck might be? I think, I might be the cornerstone from now onwards, against whom one can measure his/her bad luck and be all happy and gay and content.

Happy Belated Valentines’ Day to all of you out there.

***

After all, the great MK Gandhi said- If you want to be happy, see the people below you.

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Come on, 2009! :)

A very Happy New Year to all!

The previous post was written in a jiffy. So it doesn’t count. Not for me, at the least. You see, the thing is that I’ve realized I can’t do many -or for that matter, any– thing in haste. I take my own little time. Which – in most cases is – [much] more than others. Eating, Ironing, Studying, Socializing… just to quote a few random examples. People who have known me wouldn’t be surprised a wee bit at any of it.

Anyway, let’s make it musical. There was a time – I can’t exactly recall when- perhaps last year or so, when there was such a dearth of good hindi music. I mean the songs weren’t just worth listening to twice. And I was pretty sure that that was the near end of Bollywood music. But thankfully, I was wrong. And wrong by light years! Of late, from November onwards or so, I don’t think I’ve listened to much of English. Songs from Dostana, Fashion, Yuvvraj, Ghajini, Jaane tu.., Rock On, et al.. and very recently, from Slumdog Millionaire, CC2C, Raaz-2, DevD, AR Rehman’s new album, LuckByChance… They all have been just too good! A huge chunk of this quality music is attributed to Rehman. I mean, the songs from Yuvvraj were so brilliant that I watched the entire movie just for them. [FYI- That movie isn’t worth watching at all except if you’re highly interested in Salmaan’s looks, or Rehman’s music or both.] Then there is Ghajini these days and there was Jaane Tu.. Ya Jaane Na a little while ago.

If you haven’t seen Slumdog Millionaire yet, or listened to it’s OST.. then you should immediately stop reading this crap and do aforementioned things ASAP! Or you can wait and watch it in theatres from 25th January onwards. I highly doubt if any Indian Director could’ve possibly made this movie the way a Firangi did. He showed a much more veracious India than any other contemporary Indian movies. Talent, can’t just be the raison d’être for this. Rather, what can be perceived from the movie is perspicacious homework. And the background score makes it even more lively. Your heart beat do get increased. Mine did! I won’t reveal where. Indian film industry, I feel, isn’t lagging behind in technology or talent or resources much these days. It falls back when hard work comes into picture. I mean, how many of the actors did built 8-packs just to make some action scenes look authentic and get into the feel of such character. But yes, there are those who would build a 6-pack to show it off in some totally inane dance sequence. But then, this is a free democratic country and people have their choices and preferences. I just wish they’d have prioritized a little more scrupulously.

While we’re still on movies, I feel morally obliged to let you people know about the movie named ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ which is one of the most intelligent movie I’ve seen in the recent present. It’s too long, boring.. Nonetheless Brilliant. I won’t say much about it, except that you should watch it.

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In this new year, I’ve learnt that you can’t force yourself to fall in love. It just happens. Contrary to what I used to believe, but my credos have been fully replaced now by new ones. Change, as they say, is only inevitable. And necessary for one’s growth. [BTW, in that previous quote, I’ve been wondering from time immemorial that who are those they?] I used to hear this in movie/books, but now I know the truth behind it. And not vicariously. Then, it just doesn’t matter how good or bad the person might be. If you don’t feel, you just don’t feel. Nothing can be done about it. I don’t know how it is for others, but for me this has been the case so far. Also, you can’t make someone fall in love with you. Coz after all, the choice is theirs ultimately. Eh, it’s just too complicated. I can’t even express it here with panache. Chuck it. I landed incongruously.

***

It’s always great to catch up with old friends. It’s even greater to catch up with older friends. It’s even grander to catch up with people who have known you for past 10 years. The fact that you were together then, and you’re together now too.. is overwhelming enough. Everyone of them have changed drastically. But the best part is that we all changed in sync with each other. We are still as good friends as we used to be. The only difference being that then, we spent almost a day daily together, and now we spend a week together annually.

C’ est la vie…

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Hold on, 2009!

Something tells me that I should write. Here. Soon. Lest it gets too late. And also update the widgets [‘side images’, for laymen like me]. But it’s too late for that. It’s funny [actually, it’s not! It can be anything but “funny”] how [somehow] I always end up being here at this time of the day (which is 3:56 AM). That is to say, whenever I’m here doing this [writing], the time is that [more or less].
Rest Later. [In a day or two, most probably].

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On this new year’s eve, I wish you health and happiness and peace. 🙂

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This post has no title. Clearly, No substance as well.

There are times in your life, when blogging becomes a liability instead of being an asset. Well, not exactly “blogging” but writing in more general terms.
You plan for writing for days, but you just can’t write. The reasons could be myriad. Lets not get into them for the time being.
Then one fine day -or as in my case, night-you just go with the flow. You’ve nothing to write, yet it seems as if you can ramble on forever!

A lot has changed since the time I wrote that last post here. I don’t know why, but it seems that I’ve grown up more in past one month than in past one year. That is an exaggeration, apparently, but not of astronomical magnitude. In a nutshell, lets just say  that I do not think of myself as just a college going student anymore.

Oh No. I’m not going to write about terror attacks on Mumbai. I’m too callous for that. Think of me whatever you can. It’s not that I don’t care, coz I do. But I just don’t want to masquerade myself and put up a charade of peace and condemnation. I’m no Diplomat. And this is no newspaper article/site. Neither my musings here are going to make any difference to them. Who said ‘Pen is mightier than sword’? Obviously, they didn’t have keyboards back then.

No reading definitely makes Me a dull boy! Everything written is a quintessential proof.

***

[I can’t recall if I’ve mentioned this in my blog previously]

Be careful what you wish for, coz you just might get it all.. And then somethings you don’t want.

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October Onus

People have been wanting me to write. It feels good. Obviously it does! Even I’ve been wanting to write for quite some time now, but something or the other kept springing up. Then, there were times when I didn’t feel like writing. Anyway, let’s move on.
About the title- Ever since August 2006, I’ve written here every month. So this is a ritual, which has to be performed at least once in a month. I’m in no mood to break the chain right now. Oh, and by the way, this blog will soon get another author. The due delivery date is [tentatively] any day after 4th of November in this year. We’re waiting anxiously!
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I don’t like this time of the year. It’s not exactly cold, neither it’s hot. It’s somewhere in between. Over the past few days, I’ve learned that I like things in black and white. I really don’t see the point of being diplomatic as far as issues are concerned. Although, with people, it’s totally the other way round! Besides, people do appreciate if you’ve got an unequivocal standing [on issues]. It is of little significance then if your viewpoint doesn’t overlap with theirs.  Moreover, it also makes you an interesting conversationalist! Figure out how…
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And here is the reason why I don’t like this time of the year even more. It’s at this time that I realize my attendance is falling short in almost every course. I’ve to collect all my will power and determination to wake up at 7 then. The worst part is, that I can’t take a bath in the morning coz it’s too cold for that. And I don’t like getting out of hostel without showering. I also can’t bathe in morning. That implies- I can’t get out in morning. Hence, it becomes a vicious circle! Can I be accused for short attendance then? But I’m pretty sure; none of you has ever faced a problem of this kind. Now I’m thinking that [probably] I should change the name of the blog to “TheOnlyOne” 😛 Or does “SuiGeneris” sounds better? Shall we poll for it? [Wordpress has introduced this feature very recently 😀 ]
***
‘Kuch Kam’ from the [supposedly gay] movie Dostana is all I’ve been listening to from past 3 days! I don’t know whether to thank her or not. I want to hear to something else, but I just keep coming back to it after every few songs. There is something wrong with me. Or is it with the song? :-O
**
Have you ever watched any play twice? Back to Back? With two of the world’s most beautiful women alongside? It’s absolutely worth it! 😉
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Rocked On! Then Why so Serious?

Where do we begin? The Dark Kight? The Rakhi? The Independence Day?

Sorting out the list by the amount of verbosities which I’m about to do, I guess I’ll begin from TDK. This is my very first instance of watching a Hollywood action flick in theater. And I did it thrice, in order to make sure the impression is indelible. Now I guess the impression has become overwhelming! Surely, the movie isn’t as good as Godfather or Shawshank Redemption or the likes of it.. but it does deserve to be there in IMDB top 10. There are 3 USPs of the movie- Heath Ledger, the 10 minute pre-intermission car chase sequence and the ending. For me, I mean. Others might choose to differ. Fair enough. I’ll just like to add one more thing to it. If our parent’s generation boasted about dialogues of Sholay and The Godfather, our generation will take pride in dialogues of TDK. And not only of The Joker, but also of Batman, Bruce Wayne, Alfred, Lucius Fox and of course Harvey Dent.  I, in particular liked the ending. It was really moving. “Set the dogs on me…” is definitely the most accentuating dialogue of Batman in the movie.

****

That was almost a fortnight ago.

Now, Rakhi and Independence day have become a little stale in the present context. I’ll just say this one thing which I didn’t realize by myself yet. Someone told me that I should avoid being in Delhi during Rakhis.. pata nahin kaun-kaun rakhi baandh de! This was brilliant! I mean why didn’t I think in this fashion before, with all my supposedly “dirty” mind? :-O She is intelligent, isn’t She? [Thanx She 😀 ] I know it is not a complement or something, but I felt immensely glad [and to be honest, a little proud too]. 😉

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Moving on, I saw Rock On yesterday. Well, I’ll not say the movie is excellent. But it’s definitely worth watching at least once in the hall. Mostly because of the music. Music, that is, if you’re into rock. Shanker, Ehsaan, Loy have done an excellent job of making rock in hindi. Before that, all the rock bands which I’ve heard in hindi sounded next to pathetic, if not pathetic. Agreed, that they have taken inspiration from some very popular rock bands and artists.. Nonetheless, that doesn’t mitigate their work. Use of bass guitar, which is like so rare in bollywood brings in refreshing winds of change. Best song is undoubtedly Pichle saat dinon mein(live version), hands down. It is heavily “inspired” from Bryan Adams [I can’t remember which track exactly, probably cuts like a knife.. although I’ll have to listen to it again in order to be sure]. The best scene [and the moment] of the movie? Entry of Arjun Rampal -aka Joe- ‘one song late’, playing guitar with elan displaying inimitable nonchalance relentlessly! You feel so good about it. And of course, some amazing acting by him and the rest of them. Nowhere did we feel that it’s the debut film of Prachi and Farhan. The film, on the whole isn’t too good. It’s really slow in the first half. But that is not the point. The film was meant to be musical opus, and it has succeeded in this endeavour with flying colours.  I’ve listened to nothing else since watching this movie. It’s been 24 [almost] continuous hours. For the time being, I’m just Rocked On. Totally! 🙂

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I wanted to say a few more things, but they’re just slipping of my mind right now. Invariably, I’ve written far more than I intended to. I think I will stop Me. 😛

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Aerials- The Musical…

Well, most of you know already know about this tag, so I wont repeat the rules again. Those who don’t, will surely understand by the time they finish reading this. By the way, just a little suggestion from me- No matter if you are/are not a blogger/reader/ writer, I think everyone should do this. And keep a record of it. It’s so much fun! Believe me, you’d actually get a few answers very very perfect!

• If some says, “is this OK” you say- No Rain (Blind melon)
• What would best describe your personality- Night Crawler (Judas Priest) [This is Interesting!]
• What do you like in a girl/guy- Paranoid (Black Sabbath) [No Way!]
• How do you feel today- Creep (Radiohead) [Probably.. ]
• The purpose of  your life- Hallowed be thy Name (Iron Maiden) [I was fearing this! It isn’t accurate, but not totally wrong either 😉 ]
• What do your friends think of you- Us and Them (Pink Floyd) [Well, can’t really comment on this.]
• What do you think of your parents- Undertow (Pain of Salvation) [So not true! Doesn’t make any sense at all!]
• What do you think about very often- Jailbreak (AC/DC) [This is Bang on target!]
• What do you think of your best friend- Every Woman in the World (Air Supply) [No Comments! 😉 ]
• What do you think of the person you like- I am Mine (Pearl Jam) [ I beg to differ, please! They were so many other romantic tracks in the playlist. Out of all those, only this one has to here? Fancy that! :-X ]
• What is your life’s story- It ends tonight (The All-American Rejects) [Huh? What? I certainly hope not. I don’t wanna die virgin 😛 ]
• What do you want to be when you grow up- Time is Running Out (Muse) [Again, What? :-O]
• What do you think when you see the person you like- Black Star (Yngwie Malmsteen) [I seriously don’t know the meaning of this song, or this tag either!]
• What do your parents think of you- Making love out of nothing at all (Air Supply) [I think the questions and songs are not in sync 😦 ]
• What will you dance to at your wedding- Chop Suey (System of a Down) [If only anyone can “dance” to it, I surely would!]
• What will they play at your funeral- Time of Your Life (Greenday) [This is nice :-)]
• What is your hobby/interests- Where did you sleep last night (Nirvana) [It so does not!]
• What is your biggest secret- Life is Wonderful (Jason Mraz) [Huh?]
• What do you think of your friends- Sweet Child of Mine (Guns N’ Roses) [Exactly!]
• What should you post this as- Aerials (System of a Down) [This saves me of thinking another blog title. Phew.]
• What do you think about this tag- Walk this Way (Aerosmith)

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Birthdays Birthdays!

Alrite. So last Friday was my birthday. Again! I pretty much remember all my birthdays. Since my sixth, that is. And this wasn’t much different from the rest of them. None of my birthdays have been good for me yet. I mean, on all my birthdays, I did get one or the other disturbing news. What I got on this birthday, I will not like to disclose here. Simply speaking, it’s not worth it. What was even worse was that I didn’t get wished from people whom I really wanted to, well.. except a few. But there were considerable amount of wishes I got. My most sincere thanks to each of you who did remember. Those who didn’t, I bear no grudge. It happens. And when it’s me, this happens more than often. The fault is in my stars.

Or maybe The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves ..

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5 Things I learned today

1. Never ever send a message sans your name, in case your number is changed.

2. Don’t use people unless you know them well. Make friendship first. Then ask for favour. Not the other way round. The Godfather Style, is very applicable even in today’s world.. and not just occidentally, but indigenously as well.

3. Use your authority on those whom you have the right. And this right is cultivated over a long period of time, acquaintance and friendship. Not just in a day or two.

4. If you’re using someone else’s computer in his/her room, the decent thing to do is to vacate his/her chair when the concerned person returns.

5. Don’t compare yourself with others irrationaly. Sab aisa hi kar rahe hai, doesn’t work. You’re not anyone else, but You. The circumstances, the temperament, line of thought, the attitude, the approach.. these all are different for different people. Hence, using the aforementioned as maxim, time and again makes you look outrageously stupid.

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Love-All at Breakpoint

FYI- I don’t like Tennis. Not as much as some of the other people do. So for those “some” people, this post might be a little rude, offensive. My apologies to them in advance. I’m not liable to any acquistion if you choose to read further.

So there was this tritely [in]famous final between these two giants of lawn tennis, for the umpteenth number of time! Had Federar won, the papparazi would have again showered condolences on Nadal, empathizing with him like hell.. Big Deal! The repercussions, in that case wouldn’t have been as stirring as they are now. They say that it’s ‘an end of era’, ‘a new dawn of hope’ and all those clichés. I say it’s nothing. Just a win doesn’t prooves anyone’s mettle. India beating Australia in that final of triangular series down under didn’t make India the better team than Australia. It was just the matter of “that” day. It was India’s. Like it was of Nadal’s.

When a Tennis Match goes up to 5 sets, it’s really unfair to decide a winner. Then, the luck factor comes into play as well. Remember, Goran Ivanisevic? Beating Rafter in what was called a marathon game. And the final set of it? This game was no different than the present one, as for the sheer determination of both the winners. The only difference (which overshadows everything else, sadly) being that Ivanisevic wasn’t as well known as then as Nadal is now.

This doesn’t mean that I’m pro-Federar or something. I support no one, as I aforementioned. But definitely, Radal’s win is kind of change from monopoly (and monotony) of Federar. All in all, it is good for Tennis.

Here is why I don’t like Tennis. I don’t like it because I never played it. Hence, I can’t appreciate the finesse, nuances, the technique of the game. For me, [mostly] tennis is like a foreign film, with no subtitles. And this goes for every game on which I never had a first hand experience. I only started liking football once I started playing it. The better I got at it, the more I enjoyed watching it. I don’t know what it takes to hit a perfect ace. I don’t know how much practice it takes to win a point from baseline. I don’t know the strategies of net game, of hitting volleys. All this, despite the fact that I’ve played Badminton professionally, which isn’t much different than tennis, theoretically.

And here is why I don’t like tennis even more. Of all the Tennis-Crazy people, I believe almost 80 % have never seen a tennis racquet in real life. And yet, they go ‘Go-FedEx’. What the hell! Do they even know how much stamina it takes to run up-and-down court infinite number of times? To hit just that one ace, do they have any bit of idea how much he or she has worked over it? Backhand doesn’t come naturally to many. Have they ever seen Gustavo Kuerton’s powerful backhands? I’ll consider anyone a die-hard tennis fan if he/she can answer all the above questions in affirmative, and perhaps point out my mistake which I’m sure have made. Coz I’m not a fan of tennis, I can’t answer most of them in affirmative with conviction. This is what it takes to be a fan.

What deserve to be done, deserves to Overdone. – Harry Crews.

I might sound too strong in my opinions, but I’m not. All I wanted to say here is that don’t make a charade of you being ultimate tennis fanatic. Coz if you really are, you definitely wont. And don’t get too  hyper over one Federar loss or Radal’s win.

I don’t have much knowledge on tennis, so it’s still Love-All for me. Which, by the way, is a very useful maxim to be followed otherwise 😉

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